


I love you uneven - if he was one

by OliveBranch_10



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Diego centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 06:08:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18330176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliveBranch_10/pseuds/OliveBranch_10
Summary: When Diego was little, when he was still just Number Two he told his mom ‘dad loves his uneven numbers more than his even numbers.’ This was before they got their names, before Reginald decided to stop training little number seven, and before the children realised how strange their upbringing was.





	I love you uneven - if he was one

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS THROUGH DIEGOS EYES AND THUS A BIT UNFAIR TO THE OTHER CHARACTERS YEET || unbeta'd
> 
> aka Diego sees a pattern that I noticed during the show and I just went with all these things that i noticed:
> 
> luther had a different perspective on Reggie, talking about how they sat under the tree together, allison in the show said 'i used to get my way with everything even with dad' and five was clearly honoured through the painting and is praised by hargreeves on multiple occassions. 
> 
> whereas we see with klaus that he tortures him by locking him in a mausoleum, from snippets of his notebooks we see that he played on diego's insecurities to make him work harder and comics imply that he locked him up under water, we dont know how he treated Ben but we know that he forced him to unleash the tentacles despite bBen asking not to and Reggie wrote that he was disgusted by his power (implying a dislike)
> 
> these are all fickle things but I wanted angst lmao

 

 When Diego was little he told his mom ‘dad loves his uneven numbers more than his even numbers.’ This was before they got their names, before Reginald decided to stop training little number seven, and before the children realised how strange their upbringing was. It was one of the first rebellious thoughts Grace had, while it followed her programming as mother machine, she hated Sir Hargreeves for hurting _her children_.

 

-

 

They’re by the pool, it's a Sunday afternoon so play time is permitted although Father said now that they’re six they wont be playing as often anymore, instead they’ll be training. But for now the sun is hot on their skin and children laughter echoes, when Number Two slips and falls in the pool, none of them can swim yet and Mom can’t go in the water. He can hear faraway Seven yelling for their father, and hear One calling out for him to grab his hand, but the water is everywhere and he can’t find up or down. He’s sinking and water is pressing down on him. He sees the reflection of his family from above him; his Father is standing over the pool taking off his jacket while Three is holding back One from entering. His lungs burn and he wants his mom, Two exhales and – _he can breathe._

 

Every Wednesday after dinner Father takes him to the bathroom on the top floors, an unused one, forces Two to lie down underneath the water before closing it with a wooden plank. He’s only allowed to knock on it when he feels like he can’t breathe anymore. It’s around this time that Grace notes that her little number Two is developing a stutter. He stammers with his words whenever he begs his Father not to make him go upstairs, stutters when he asks his siblings to hide him, and struggles even more to talk after the sessions.

 

For a while it’s believed this is Two’s power, until he tosses an arrow from around the corner during a game of darts to outshine One. _It hits bulls-eye every time._

 

- 

 

Four has always been deemed weird by his siblings; it was just as normal to have the sun rise up in the sky, as it was to see him talk into thin air. Two never understood why his brother would sometimes do inexplicable things; he always said that the people made him do it. Their voices would yell at him to do it, screeching in his ear. Four seemed more surprised that they couldn't hear these voices, these demons hissing in his ear. Word about these people and the demon voices in the end reached Father, no doubt through One, who took Four with him and only returned the day after. Two is sure that if he was One he would never risk his siblings to suffer Father’s judging eye. When they came back Four was paler than paper and didn't tell any of them anything. It was Father who explained that Four’s power manifested, their little crazy brother was a psychic and the thin air, wasn’t so thin anymore.

 

Now when Father takes Two to the bathroom on Wednesday they first have to lock number Four in the mausoleum, and when they re-enter the house and quietly walk up the stairs Two can still hear Four’s screams in his ears, every time.

 

-

 

Contrary to their numbers Father found number Six first, his power so visible that it lured in the billionaire like a moth to a flame. ‘Disgusting,’ Two had heard him say to Pogo, ‘Disgusting, but fascinating nonetheless.’ For a short while Two envied Six, for his power was, just as One’s power, visible and required less training. It is only when he hears Six beg their Father to please not make him do it anymore, does Two wonder whether Six thinks the same way. Six tells them, Two and Four, that he’s afraid the monsters inside him will in the end rip him apart. It’s almost impossible to accept Father’s training of Six, but when they protest he merely locks Four up into the mausoleum and Two is stuck in the bathtub longer than he’s ever been.

 

If he would be number One, maybe Father would take them serious.

 

-

 

Mom gives them names, real people names instead of numbers. Pogo explains that their names are related to the place where Father found them. One becomes Luther, Two becomes Diego, Three becomes Allison, and Four becomes Klaus, because he was found in Germany or so he told. Five refuses to tell them his name and instead claims his number. Two, no he is Diego now, will never understand but Mom tells him that Five is complicated too, just like all of them so he lets it be. Six becomes Ben, and Seven becomes Vanya. It’s confusing to remember the names for Father still calls them by their numbers. Diego still dreams of becoming One, because maybe if he was he could tell Father to call them by their names and be taken seriously.

 

-

 

They’re a stable group for a while. They’re unhappy but everyone is evolving, growing into their powers and succeeding in missions. If there is one thing that gives them peace it's the fact that they please Father, the Umbrella Academy is finally succeeding how it should be. While the rigid schedule doesn't ease up and none of them are truly allowed to be children, it feels to Diego as if he’s allowed to be thirteen. He ignores the signs of destruction when he sees Allison rumour Klaus again and again as punishment for taking her stuff, ignores the soft crying of Ben, and the lonely eyes of Vanya, because they’re doing better Diego’s sure of it. He’s allowed to feel thirteen for seven months and eleven days. Five disappears and doesn’t come back. Diego can see Vanya leaving the lights on, leaving bread for Five and playing the violin with her window open late at night, but Five never shows up. If he were One, he would’ve kept Five from leaving.

 

-

 

It’s when he’s sixteen that Diego realizes how fickle the status quo is. How easily the scale can be tipped one way or another. It’s the first time Dad sent Klaus to rehab, Diego watched how the man snarled at Klaus, called him his greatest disappointment and shoved him in the car that would take him there. Diego ignores the hot flash of anger and ignores even more the soft voice of his childhood that is relieved he’s not the biggest disappointment. He acknowledges his shame.

 

-

 

Ben dies on a sunny Thursday afternoon three months after they turned seventeen. He leaves after the funeral, crying because if he had been number One he would’ve refused the mission. He kisses Mom softly on the cheek and closes the door.

. 

.

. 

.

.

.

He’s number Two, and Father never cared for his even numbers in the way that he cared for his uneven ones.

 

 


End file.
